KJ Noons became the latest Elite XC fighter to release an official statement, as he finally dished on what’s been keeping him from taking a fight with Nick Diaz on the October 4 CBS show. Noons sent his screed to MMANews.com, and it is full of fun little quips and nuggets about life in Elite XC. Noons’ grievances range from the financial to the probably merely perceived to the petty, but he puts it all out there with enough attitude and anger to make up for all the time he let Jared Shaw run his mouth without consequences. Among his complaints:

In the Elite XC’s DVD where Diaz and I fought there are two (2) baseball cards of Diaz and Kimbo. Hello! I won the fight and Elite XC’s promoting Diaz after I beat him? Or how about the day Elite XC flew Diaz in to do a signing on the DVD where he lost. Wow, that must have been uncomfortable Nick? Signing a DVD, and it is a fight that you lost. Why wasn’t I flown in for the signing?

[...]

Consider when Elite XC gives a couple thousand tickets away at their CBS show in Stockton.
Elite XC gives me a hard time about comping me one extra ticket for my cousin that helped me train for my fight. I only get four tickets per show. I am the main event in Honolulu, my home town! I did not ask for any tickets for my family and friends and they gave me a hard time about one extra ticket!

Or how about when Elite XC brought Diaz into the ring after my last victory in Hawaii to disrespect me and my family.

Chuck Champion (President Elite XC) threatens me, my family and my manager with lawsuits and how he’s going to sue me. HAHA. Pretty hard to sue a guy who does not make jack with your company. I’m glad $kala disclosed how much I make, which breached the confidentiality clause of the contract. I will break down the real numbers for you. I am the defending world champ, I have been the main event for Elite XC three out of four times on Showtime. In almost two years I have made approximately $83,000?

Of course, Noons then goes on to tread familiar ground for fighters, explaining that he has to pay his trainers and managers and (gasp!) taxes with that money, so he figures he’s really only making around $300 a week, and his friends who are bus boys make more than that (he really said that).

The Diaz situation rears its ugly head in all of this, and it seems that their request to have Noons face him in a rematch on CBS was what really set “King Karl” off:

But the straw that broke the camel’s back is they want me to fight Diaz for the second time. Diaz is not the number one contender and they are paying Diaz three times more money than me. Diaz complained after the Stockton fight, he was not paid enough. How do you think that made me feel? Yes you can argue that Diaz gets more for the draw, therefore I do not deserve as much compensation. If that is the case, it is a result of Elite XC terrible job promoting me. Instead of promoting me as their champ and upcoming athlete, Elite XC has resented me for ruining their plans to make Diaz their champ. That is just total disrespect. So it comes down to money and what is fair. I am tired of being bent over by Elite XC with no Vaseline.

I am right when I say Diaz is not the number one contender. Elite XC is trying to force this fight for their ratings. Eddie Alaverez is the number one contender and anybody with half a brain knows that a fight with Eddie is a way harder fight for me than Diaz. I will fight Diaz, but Elite has to be fair. I’m not ducking Diaz, why the hell would I be scared of someone I already beat.

Noons concludes by saying that he plans to fight Diaz eventually, but not on the October CBS card, and that he also plans to focus on his boxing career, where he feels he can make more money. He also claims that no one is talking about Elite XC’s October card apart from the Noons-Diaz match that isn’t happening on it. He does know about the whole Kimbo Slice-Ken Shamrock thing, right?

Here’s a crazy idea: if Noons is upset that Diaz is making more money and getting more of a push, why not go out in front of the CBS audience and give him a whipping? After all, he’s not a top contender, so it should be an easy paycheck, and after he beats Diaz down Elite XC will have to pay him more and promote him as their champ, right? Plus, think of the extra sponsorship money he could pick up in front of a CBS crowd.

Or he could just sit out and not get that money. Either way. Maybe his bus boy friends know of some place that’s hiring.

Cagepotato Comments

Showing 1-25 of comments

I watched the fight over and over and Noons mops the floor with Diaz. I was at the Blasedale fight in Honolulu and it was EXTREMELY disrespectful for Elite XC to bring in Diaz after Noons just mopped another fool over the floor. You guyz that are pissed over these comments by Noons are sorry loozers because your homie Diaz got fucked up! He got knock down by a punch then many followed and he TORE Diaz's face up like the turkey he is!!! BAD attitude from Diaz and his pissed off fans. How can you fear someone that you almost murdered.........please anyone, let me know. This is how fight promoters like Elite XC and Don King work! They get hot on a guy (like Elite on Diaz) and its a one track road which screws the rest of the fighters...sucks but thats how it is. I don't know about being paid less that a bus boy but its still weird that Noons is not being promoted and is being payed less than Diaz. It would be a great, heated bout between the two, but Noons Isn't at fault here. All you Noons haters are making your homie Diaz look bad because if you think Noons didn't win the fight your compromising your credibility and Diaz just has a bunch of fans with NO credibility!!!

John Kimble- August 30, 2008 at 12:17 am

KJ is being smart business wise. The belt is his only leverage for more money from Elite and if he loses that he'll never get another crack at it, because, let's face it, if KJ noons lost his second fight against diaz, elite wouldnt be so quick to push that rubber match. This whole thing is about the money.

Who Cares- August 28, 2008 at 11:31 pm

I remember when everyone was calling KJ Noons the "Poster boy" of EliteXC and now KJ is calling Diaz a poster boy??? I don't think a guy who smokes weed, flips the crowd off and swears non stop can really be a poster boy of anything.

piemasterdeluxmofo- August 28, 2008 at 5:23 pm

I think noons is right although a little misguided.

We have already seen that elite XC is willing to make matchups based on ratings as opposed to what makes sense in mma terms e.g. KIMBO SHAMROCK......

Elite XC needs to stop trying to make stars when it already has some that it isnt making use of.

AND... i f*cking hate the DIAZ bitches

Anonymous- August 28, 2008 at 3:14 pm

is it just me or does it look like KJ has a belly button ring? If so that is fucking tough.

KJ is a vajay-jay- August 28, 2008 at 3:04 pm

This is a joke. KJ has brain damage and needs to be put in a home because this shit is ridiculous. He's only had 9 fights -- half of them to nobodies on the regional circuit -- and he expects to make the kind of money Diaz does? Diaz has fought epic battles in Japan and the UFC. He KO'd Lawler (an EliteXC champ now), and submitted Gomi with a gogoplata. Noons only has the belt because of a doctor's stoppage, plus he got KTFO'd by Krazy Horse at an EliteXC event.
The controversy over the Diaz fight and the public's desire for a rematch is the only thing putting Noons on the mma map.
If Noons wants to be paid and marketed more, he needs to do the ONE THING that everybody wants to see: Beat Nick Diaz via KO, submission, or decision. Man up, KJ! This isn't badminton, it's mma. One fight and you can quiet your detractors and gain some negotiation leverage. Man the fuck up.

I think Noons is a victim of circumstance here. Elite XC isn't going to pay him jack, cause they don't have jack. A fight with Diaz as opposed to Alverez would generate more jack and help the company in the short term. Should he take the Diaz fight? Of course he should...he's the champion and should take every opportunity to prove so against game competition. I understand where he is coming from though...that promotion shows him no love even though he is obviously an up and coming talent fighter.

Okay a cut isn't a win, but how about an early knockout over Yvevs Edwards (and don't think for a second that they weren't aiming for Edwards vs. Diaz for the championship.) The kid has skills, and yeah it sucks that the champion gets bent over without Vaseline (great Ice Cube reference by the way) but sometimes you have to play by the other guy's rules to get a little farther.

Elite XC won't be around in the next two years, so it's probably a better idea to take all the opportunities you can now and fall back on boxing if you can't get on with Zuffa or Strikeforce.

Diaz is the pussy- August 28, 2008 at 8:09 am

Beat´s right!
Noons would kick Nicks ass again in a rematch.
Hope it will go down soon, then Noons can tell Elite to go fxxk themselves.

Koons needs to stop whining, let Diaz talk his trash, maybe even act afraid, then embarrass him. He'll get a raise, name recognition, and a ton of sponsor money. Unfortunately, as a fighter you need to fight the fights people want, not the ones that are better on paper.

tpark- August 28, 2008 at 2:01 am

" I am tired of being bent over by Elite XC with no Vaseline."

Guess Noons doesnt like the support from behind without any assistance....

Beat- August 28, 2008 at 1:38 am

Noons should whoop Nick's ass then go to Dana and get what he deserves. I'm sure Dana would love to pay someone who fucked up an EliteXC poster boy extra cash for his efforts.

I'll be the lone Noons defender here and say that if he's telling the truth about making 83K for two years work, that is pretty fucked up. And Diaz can whine about the cuts all he wants, he was still getting his ass kicked in that fight. I would like to see Noons man up and fight Diaz in October though.

KJ Noons is really trying to live off Nick Diaz fame. He thinks he should be making the money that top fighters make, and be the face of EliteXC just because he won by a cut. Do the world of MMA a favor and go back to boxing. He is ducking Diaz just don't try to say you rather face Alvarez because you would get destroyed in one minute of the first round.

Koeikan- August 27, 2008 at 11:33 pm

wahhhhhhhh

That's all I heard.

He said previously that his contract is up in November. If he wants more money, respect, comp'd tickets, then he should do his job as the champion and fight. A legit win in the rematch would give him more exposure and much more leverage when they renegotiate.

They should just strip him of the belt, put up an interim title match between Alvarez and Diaz and if he doesn't fight the winner, let him walk. He's always come across like a punk, even more so than Diaz (who's mostly just a crazy punk) even before all this started.

Velcro Shoes- August 27, 2008 at 11:28 pm

Don't be scared homey!

A cut is not a win.

A cut is not a win.

A cut is not a win.

Vrax- August 27, 2008 at 11:01 pm

"and his friends who are bus boys make more than that (he really said that)."

HEY MAN!

Don't forget the bar backs! They make a ton more than an mma fighter, but still far less than you could make doing 6, maybe 8 round boxing matches.

Noons should get Chuck Liddell to run the numbers for him. Which is my unfunny accountant joke for the day. (I lost a bet)

Matt- August 27, 2008 at 10:39 pm

i can understand that he feels disrespected by EliteXC, but sitting on the sidelines isn't going to do anything for his career. there are still ways to make this kind of thing work to your advantage.

Of course it's one of the weakest "wins" you can get in MMA when it's TKO due to a cut.

As for his argument going as far as he only makes $300 per week. I don't remember seeing him fight that many times so It's more like $20k a fight. If he's going to box then he's training anyway and that pay shouldn't be broken down like he attempted.